Crane winch



Oct 1956 H. SCHEUERPFLUG CRANE WINCH Filed Oct. 4, 1954 II/11A 2,766,018 CRANE WINCH Hans Scheuerpflug, Dnsseidorf, Germany, assignor to Rheinmetall Akn'engeseilschaft, Dusseldorf, Germany Application Uctober 4, 1954, Serial No. 460,15 Claims priority, application Germany October 26, 195 3 4 Claims. (til. 254-156) This invention relates to winches or hoisting installations for cran s, particularly although not exclusively for slewing mobile cranes in which the brake discs of the rope or cable drun s are arranged coaxially or substantially coaxially with respect to the drums.

Hitherto known winch mechanisms of this type invariably have the rope drums supported in separate vertical bearings which are either screwed together directly with the platform of the associated base frame, or with folding carrying frames, the so-called triangle frames, or with frameworks in the form of rigid iron structures.

All the aforementioned designs are subject to the disadvantage that the individual drums, which are generally placed one on top of the other, are not very easy to fit and remove, which operations therefore take much time. Furthermore, such mechanisms take up considerable space as a result of which the space available in the cab is restricted. if the winch mechanism is arranged on rigid frameworks or between triangle frames, the removal of single defective rope drums becomes particularly difficult because, as a rule, a considerable portion of the cab must be first dismantled to enable the parts concerned to be withdrawn at all.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome these disadvantages with a view to providing a crane the winch mechanism of which can be fitted and removed with ease and without much loss of time, and especially without involving time-consuming incidental work, such as any dismantling of the cab, said mechanism also being readily accessible for servicing and sufiiciently compact to ensure that the cab is adequately roomy.

According to the invention this object is achieved by designing the drums of the winch mechanism, including their associated brake discs, so that the whole unit can be inserted from the outside into a box-shaped portion of the frame, the so-called rope drum tunnel, which serves as a drum housing and at the same time is a supporting component of the frame structure.

As will be readily understood, in a winch embodying the invention, the design and arrangement of the rope drums, or of their means of support respectively, enables each drum to be fitted and removed easily and speedily because, for example for fitting, all that is needed is to insert the drum with its connecting means from the outside into the aforesaid rope drum tunnel and then to connect it in the appropriate position with the rope drum tunnel by means of screws, for example. The connection can be made with the aid of end plates, bearing sup- 7 ports or bridge plates which are screwed together with mating components provided on the rope drum tunnel. it requires only a few screws to secure the drums against turning and sliding out.

Further details of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show one example of a winch embodying the invention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the structure of a slewing mobile crane illustrating features of the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan as seen on the section line A.B in Fig. 1.

In the example illustrated by the drawing, 3 is the platform or the base frame of the superstructure, on which there is mounted the cab 3 with the drivers seat 20 and to which a jib (not shown) is articulated at 3". The

2,766,918 Fatented Oct. 9, 1956 base frame has bulkheads 16 arranged across the jib axis so that at 4 and 4 rope drum tunnels of square crosssection are formed in which the rope drum 1, l of the double-rope grab winch mechanism are housed. The tunnels mentioned form supporting elements of the superstructure frame.

The rope drum tunnels are secured by means of end plates 13 which are screwed together at 12 with the lugs 5 provided on the rope drum tunnels. in the example shown in the drawing, the end plates 13 serve also as pivot bearings for the drum shafts. The external ends of the drum shafts are provided in known manner with brake discs 2, which co-operate with a brake system consisting of two brake levers 8 provided with brake shoes 6 and connected in the usual manner by means of a tension spring 9. Said brake levers pivot in simple vertical lugs welded on to the tunnel at it). The lifting of the brake is performed by means of a brake lifter 11, which may be for example, a pneumatic cylinder device.

On the righthand side of the drawing there is further shown another rope drum tunnel 17 the side walls of which are formed by bulkheads 15. This rope drum tunnel houses another winch mechanism, for example a jib derricking drum 18 with brake disc 18. The free, inwardly directed ends of the individual drum shafts are connected by known means (for example keyed shafts) with a transmission gear 14 which in the present instance consists of three meshing bevel gears shown in the drawing and of which one is driven through the shaft a by a motor (not shown).

With the cab doors closed, the openings of the rope drum tunnels are completely covered by the door panel 19, as can be seen in the bottom half of Fig. 2. However, when the doors are open, the two rope drums 1, 1', together with their brake installations, are freely accessible from the outside so that they are easy to replace and to service after a few fixing screws have been undone. To

enable the ropes to be observed, inspection holes preferably fitted with lids, not shown in the drawing, are advantageously provided on the top and bottom faces of the tunnels. Accessibility of the rear drum 18 is afforded by doors 21, through which the transmission gear 14 can be withdrawn, unless it is preferred to do so in the downward direction.

I claim:

1. A winch comprising a framework having a plurality of housing tunnels formed by support members, a plurality of cable drums each provided with a brake disc, each drum and brake disc constituting a unit which is removably accommodated in its housing tunnel, each brake disc being arranged substantially coaxially with the respective cable drum to which it is secured, and said drums with their brake discs being each removable as a unit from the outside from its tunnel which serves as the drum housing and also as a supporting component of a winch frame construction.

2. A winch according to claim 1, in which two drum units are arranged opposite each other in a common drum tunnel the center portion of which, located between the opposite drums, houses a drive for the winch.

3. A winch according to claim 1, in which two drum units are arranged opposite each other in a common drum tunnel the center portion of which, located between the opposite drums, houses a drive for the winch, and in which a third drum tunnel is disposed at right angles to the two oppositely arranged tunnels.

4. A winch according to claim 1, in which a drivers seat is provided arranged above the drum tunnels.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 473,229 Great Britain "en-u... Oct. 8, 1937 

